Cameron on Alien Covenant

Started by 0321recon, Aug 10, 2017, 09:55:22 PM

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Cameron on Alien Covenant (Read 59,769 times)

Jonesy1974

Jonesy1974

#135
Ridley and Cameron just have very different sensibilities. They make very different films because they think differently and interested in different things.

Both want to make money and be successful. 99% of film makers do, its a business after all.

Cameron makes films that appeal to broader audiences because his tastes and ideas are more in line with them. I think that's why Ridleys biggest hits are the ones he has the least input on the story itself.

T2 hit all the right notes and I think Cameron instinctively knows what notes to hit. Hes shown that with just about every film hes made even if they haven't all worked for me.

SM

SM

#136
Quote from: SiL on Aug 25, 2017, 07:07:40 AM
Quote from: Alionic on Aug 25, 2017, 05:28:55 AM
No it wasn't. It was an action film. Action films were the big budget blockbusters of the 80s and 90s; before superhero films came along.
It was the most expensive movie ever made using experimental, unproven technology and an R rating.

Just because action movies were popular doesn't mean they were a license to print money ::)

Bruce Willis had Last Boy Scout and Hudson Hawk in the same year and both tanked.

Snake

Snake

#137
Quote from: SM on Aug 25, 2017, 04:18:39 AM
Alien wasn't low budget, it quickly became an iconic film that still influences till this day in terms of the design, the monster and the heroine.

Universal gave Riddles $200m for Robin Hood and Fox gave him another $200m for Exodus.

Alien was a low-budget film. They keep saying it over and over again on the Anthology.

As for your second remark I stand corrected. So how come Ridley only got such a (relatively) small budget for Prometheus and Covenant?
Did Fox lose faith in him or the Alien-franchise just because Exodus and Robin Hood didn't do that well at the BO? Were they expecting the same succes as Gladiator?

Imo Ridley should have just stormed out of the gates, guns blazing when he made Prometheus. He only had one shot to get the franchise back on track but he blew it. Prometheus was obviously meant to be a set-up for future films.

Now we got bald humanoid bodybuilders for Space Jockeys and alien eggs that are simply the result of a mere experiment by some random runaway droid, contadicting everything we've seen in the series.

Congratulations Fox / Ridley! You definitely know what your fans want....

windebieste

windebieste

#138
Where..?  How is it contradicted? 

-Windebieste.

SM

SM

#139
QuoteAlien was a low-budget film. They keep saying it over and over again on the Anthology.

When?

$10m was not low budget at the end of the 1970s.

QuoteDid Fox lose faith in him or the Alien-franchise just because Exodus and Robin Hood didn't do that well at the BO? Were they expecting the same succes as Gladiator?

Perhaps the $100m they used was all they needed.  Exodus and Robin Hood were both PG-13 rather than R, thus increasing the audience.  Exodus was intended to draw in the religious crowd who dug stuff like Passion of the Christ.  Robin Hood was pairing Riddles with Rusty Crowe again so I guess they hoped to emulate Gladiator.

Quote
Imo Ridley should have just stormed out of the gates, guns blazing when he made Prometheus. He only had one shot to get the franchise back on track but he blew it. Prometheus was obviously meant to be a set-up for future films.

The chance he took resulted in enough success for a sequel.

Hamster1066

Hamster1066

#140
Quote from: Snake on Aug 25, 2017, 12:55:12 PM

Congratulations Fox / Ridley! You definitely know what your fans want....

Having read quite a few of the thread topics on this forum, I haven't got the faintest idea what the fans want. But I'm a fan and I like Covenant and Prometheus a lot, so I'm happy.

lv_226

lv_226

#141
Quote from: Hamster1066 on Aug 25, 2017, 04:16:32 PM
Quote from: Snake on Aug 25, 2017, 12:55:12 PM

Congratulations Fox / Ridley! You definitely know what your fans want....

Having read quite a few of the thread topics on this forum, I haven't got the faintest idea what the fans want. But I'm a fan and I like Covenant and Prometheus a lot, so I'm happy.

You're right on.

It should go without saying, but we all want different things. Some want a slow-burner like Alien, others want marines, marines, and more marines, and some would like a more existential, character-driven horror film like Alien 3 (Alien:Resurrection. I choose to ignore). Prometheus and Covenant are thematically different from anything else in the series, but are just as consistent in tone as Alien and Aliens were; while still seeking to be their own thing. I, like you, am a fan and love both Prometheus and Covenant so I am quite content with the direction these films have taken. Personally, I love Aliens for what it is, but if that is the future a majority of fans would want then "you can count me out!".  :laugh:

Hamster1066

Hamster1066

#142
Quote from: lv_226 on Aug 25, 2017, 05:21:07 PM
Quote from: Hamster1066 on Aug 25, 2017, 04:16:32 PM
Quote from: Snake on Aug 25, 2017, 12:55:12 PM

Congratulations Fox / Ridley! You definitely know what your fans want....

Having read quite a few of the thread topics on this forum, I haven't got the faintest idea what the fans want. But I'm a fan and I like Covenant and Prometheus a lot, so I'm happy.

You're right on.

It should go without saying, but we all want different things. Some want a slow-burner like Alien, others want marines, marines, and more marines,  Personally, I love Aliens for what it is, but if that is the future a majority of fans would want then "you can count me out!".  :laugh:

I think that would be a backward step. I probably wouldn't be interested in that either.

Alionic

Alionic

#143
Quote from: SiL on Aug 25, 2017, 07:07:40 AM
Quote from: Alionic on Aug 25, 2017, 05:28:55 AM
No it wasn't. It was an action film. Action films were the big budget blockbusters of the 80s and 90s; before superhero films came along.
It was the most expensive movie ever made using experimental, unproven technology and an R rating.

Just because action movies were popular doesn't mean they were a license to print money ::)

LOL  ::)

I forgot to mention that this was a sequel to a highly popular film at the time. R rated action films were much more popular in the 80s and 90s than they are now. It had everything in its favor from the outset.

PierreVW

PierreVW

#144
I disagree.

James Cameron is Michael Bay with the Biggest Budgets of All Time.

Ridley Scott is Better. He is like Steven Spielberg. Both of them made ALL kinds of Films and in ALL Genres.

Highland

Highland

#145
Quote from: PierreVW on Aug 25, 2017, 10:22:41 PM
I disagree.

James Cameron is Michael Bay with the Biggest Budgets of All Time.

Ridley Scott is Better. He is like Steven Spielberg. Both of them made ALL kinds of Films and in ALL Genres.

Nah, there's only one Spielberg.

PierreVW

PierreVW

#146
Quote from: Highland on Aug 26, 2017, 12:02:55 AM
Quote from: PierreVW on Aug 25, 2017, 10:22:41 PM
I disagree.

James Cameron is Michael Bay with the Biggest Budgets of All Time.

Ridley Scott is Better. He is like Steven Spielberg. Both of them made ALL kinds of Films and in ALL Genres.

Nah, there's only one Spielberg.

I think Scott is better than Spielberg. But back to the topic, I mean it in the sense that both of them made small, dramas, big, thrillers, War, Suspense, Action, all kinds of genres, etc....

For example: both of them are releasing their new dramas this December in time for Oscars.

Highland

Highland

#147
Quote from: PierreVW on Aug 26, 2017, 01:06:51 AM
Quote from: Highland on Aug 26, 2017, 12:02:55 AM
Quote from: PierreVW on Aug 25, 2017, 10:22:41 PM
I disagree.

James Cameron is Michael Bay with the Biggest Budgets of All Time.

Ridley Scott is Better. He is like Steven Spielberg. Both of them made ALL kinds of Films and in ALL Genres.

Nah, there's only one Spielberg.

I think Scott is better than Spielberg. But back to the topic, I mean it in the sense that both of them made small, dramas, big, thrillers, War, Suspense, Action, all kinds of genres, etc....

For example: both of them are releasing their new dramas this December in time for Oscars.

What does better mean.

If I'm on a desert island and have to pick a Directors catalogue, I'm taking Spielberg's after about 2 seconds of thought. That's even with Scott having two of my all time favourites.

XenoHunter99

XenoHunter99

#148
Quote from: Snake on Aug 25, 2017, 12:55:12 PM

Now we got bald humanoid bodybuilders for Space Jockeys and alien eggs that are simply the result of a mere experiment by some random runaway droid, contadicting everything we've seen in the series.

Congratulations Fox / Ridley! You definitely know what your fans want....
No, objectively, it's not a contradiction. Subjectively, some fans seem quite satisfied with both Prometheus and Covenant. Others, not so much.

SiL

SiL

#149
Quote from: Alionic on Aug 25, 2017, 08:55:37 PM
I forgot to mention that this was a sequel to a highly popular film at the time.
The Terminator was seven years old by the time the sequel came out, and was made for $8 million. Going from an $8 million small-scale production to the most expensive movie made at the time was a huge risk.

Not that it's relevant, because Scott himself isn't much of a risk-taker.

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